The Freedom Tower

Black Enterprise Magazine says The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Board of Commissioners approved nearly $500 million worth of construction projects for the Freedom Tower at Ground Zero. This approval came in late February and paves the way for Minority and Women Business Enterprises (MWBE) to land multi-million contracts with the agency.

One African-American-owned firm that hopes to nab one of those contracts is Burwell and Associates in Great Neck, NY. To date, the distributor has only provided electrical supplies to contractors of the project. But because of its long history with the Port Authority, the owners are hopeful of doing more. Burwell and Associates has been a contractor for the Port Authority since 1993 and has secured millions of dollars in various construction and supply contracts with them over the years.

“We have done a lot of work on the World Trade Center site, as well as some of the early stage work on the Freedom Tower,” says Harry Burwell, owner of the company.” We will definitely be included in this latest round of projects at the Tower.” Burwell declined to give specifics, however, he confirmed that officials have approached him from the Port Authority and elsewhere regarding new projects at the World Trade Center site and specifically the Freedom Tower.

Timothy Marshall, president and CEO of the Jamaica Business Resource Center, a small business resource center in Jamaica, New York, says the recent Port Authority Freedom Tower contracts awards could indeed be a boom for MWBE’s. Marshall says his organization has a long-standing partnership with the Port Authority on how to include minority businesses in receiving WTC and Freedom Tower contracts. In addition, Marshall is on the Port Authority’s MWBE Oversight Committee on several other projects.